Antigone

After the death of their father, Oedipus, Antigone and Ismene return to Thebes. The ruler is their unyielding uncle by marriage, Creon, who assumed command after the death of the sons of Oedipus, Eteocles, and Polynices in a fratricidal struggle to take control of the city. Creon has the body of one brother buried with full civic honors but forbids the burial of the body of the other, whom he regards as a traitor. Antigone's challenge to Creon's decree, which she considers unjust, results in the extinction of the family line of Oedipus.

The Oresteia

In The Oresteia, Aeschylus dramatizes the myth of the curse on the royal house of Argos. The action begins when King Agamemnon returns victorious from the Trojan War, only to be treacherously slain by his own wife. It ends with the trial of their son, Orestes, who slew his mother to avenge her treachery - a trial with the goddess Athena as judge, the god Apollo as defense attorney, and, as prosecutors, relentless avenging demons called The Furies.

Oedipus the King

Oedipus the King is the story of a man whose life is destroyed by his own good intentions. When a terrible secret from his past is brought to the light of day, the consequences are chilling - and ineluctable.

Hamlet: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition

Hamlet, Shakespeare's most popular, and perhaps most puzzling play, follows the form of a "revenge tragedy", in which the hero, Hamlet, seeks vengeance against his father’s murderer, his uncle Claudius, now the king of Denmark. Much of its fascination, however, lies in its uncertainties. This new full-cast recording - based on the most respected edition of Shakespeare's classic - expertly produced by the Folger Theatre, is perfect for students, teachers, and the everyday listener.

Othello: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition

In Othello, Shakespeare creates powerful drama from a marriage between the exotic Moor Othello and the Venetian lady Desdemona. Shakespeare builds many differences into his hero and heroine, including race, age, and cultural background. Yet most audiences believe the couple’s strong love would overcome these differences were it not for Iago, who sets out to destroy Othello.

The Aeneid

The publication of a new translation by Fagles is a literary event. His translations of both the Iliad and Odyssey have sold hundreds of thousands of copies and have become the standard translations of our era. Now, with this stunning modern verse translation, Fagles has reintroduced Virgil's Aeneid to a whole new generation, and completed the classical triptych at the heart of Western civilization.

Medea

The Medea, in spite of its background of wonder and enchantment, is not a romantic play but a tragedy of character and situation. It deals, so to speak, not with the romance itself, but with the end of the romance, a thing which is so terribly often the reverse of romantic. For all but the very highest of romances are apt to have just one flaw somewhere, and in the story of Jason and Medea the flaw was of a fatal kind.

Oedipus the King: A Translation by F.L. Light

Aristotle's assertion that in Greek tragedy there is no loftier work than Oedipus the King cannot be lightly contradicted. This drama is endued fearfully with nature, as she works against the conscientiousness of measure found in man. Heretofore no translation of this play has been a poem of Sophoclean worthiness and work. The rhythmic stature of this translation runs with the Greek in heat and light.

Symposium

The Greek word sumposion means a drinking party (a fact shamefully ignored by the organizers of modern symposia), and the party described in Plato's Symposium is one supposedly given in the year 416 BC by the playwright Agathon to celebrate his victory in the dramatic festival of the Lenaea. He has already given one party, the previous evening; this second party is for a select group of friends, and host and guests alike are feeling a little frail.

The Odyssey

The great adventure story tells of Odysseus, a veteran of the Trojan War, who - through a landscape peopled with monsters, sea nymphs, evil enchantresses, and vengeful gods - makes his tortuous way home to his faithful wife, Penelope. Shipwrecked numerous times, faced with apparently insurmountable obstacles, offered the temptations of ease, comfort, and even immortality, Odysseus remains steadfast and determined. Themes of courage and perseverance, fidelity and fortitude.

Prometheus Bound

When a jealous Zeus discovers that the compassionate Titan, Prometheus, has introduced the gift of fire to liberate mere mortals from oppression and servitude, he has Prometheus bound to a rocky prison in the Scythian desert, where the god discloses the reason for his punishment.

Macbeth: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition

Macbeth, one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, is among the most powerful and influential tragedies in the English language. Promised a golden future as ruler of Scotland by three sinister witches, Macbeth murders the king in order to succeed to the throne. Tortured by his conscience and fearful of discovery, he becomes fatally enmeshed in a web of treachery and deceit.

Things Fall Apart

Okonkwo is born into poverty, with a wastrel for a father. Driven by ambition, he works tirelessly to gain the prosperity of many fields and wives and prestige in his village. But he is harsh as well as diligent. As he sees the traditions of his people eroded by white missionaries and government officials, he lashes out in anger.

A Doll House

A new recording of Henrik Ibsen's masterpiece, starring Calista Flockhart. Nora Helmer has everything a young housewife could want: beautiful children, an adoring husband, and a bright future. But when a carelessly buried secret rises from the past, Nora's well-calibrated domestic ideal starts to crumble. Ibsen's play is as fresh today as it was when it first stormed the stages of 19th-century Europe.

Oedipus at Colonus

In Oedipus at Colonus, the banished king, after years of wandering, accompanied by his faithful daughter Antigone, finds himself in Athens. Receiving a warm if guarded welcome from Theseus, King of Athens, he prepares to settle himself to spend his last days in peace. However, unwelcome visitors from his tortured past continue to haunt him until the very end.

A Midsummer Night's Dream: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition

In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare stages the workings of love in unexpected ways. In the woods outside Athens, two young men and two young women sort themselves into couples - but not before they form first one love triangle, and then another. The king and queen of fairyland, Oberon and Titania, battle over custody of an orphan boy. Oberon uses magic to make Titania fall in love with a weaver named Bottom, in an effort to distract Titania from the custody battle.

Hippolytus

Euripides (c. 480-406 B.C.E.) is the author of eighteen extant plays and many more only surviving in fragments. He is the youngest of the three great Athenian tragedians with Aeschylus and Sophocles. Hippolytus, bastard son of Theseus and the Amazon Hippolyta, has sworn chaste allegiance to the goddess Artemis, thus severely offending the goddess Aphrodite by failing to revere her. Aphrodite swears revenge and promises that he will die before the day is done, taking with him Queen Phaedra, wife of Theseus.

Publisher's Summary

In the hands of Sophocles, the master dramatist, the anguished tale of a man fated to kill his father and marry his mother retains its power to shock and move beyond any Freudian reference. In this new translation, performed by an outstanding cast led by Michael Sheen, the searing inevitability facing Oedipus proves as shocking as it was 2,500 years ago when it was first presented in the theatre at Athens. Translated by Duncan Steen.

This is a mesmerizing production. The actors are clearly understood and they pull you into the action by their enthusiastic and precise performance. A nice soundtrack adds to the atmosphere. One of the great works of western man...beautifully presented. Highly recommended.

I was caught off guard by this production, with its multiple parts and chorus, after listening to so many books in single voice. The translation is contemporary, and may come as a surprise, if you're expecting a classic production of a classic tragedy. You'll know you're listening to a tragedy. It is heart-wrenching without ever being maudlin. Highly recommended.

Would you try another book from Sophocles and/or Michael Sheen and full cast ?

Yes

What do you think your next listen will be?

Oedipus At Colonus which is not available from Audible. After that I'll be listening to The Aeneid by Virgil using Audible's version of the Fagles translation.

What does Michael Sheen and full cast bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The performance is very well done and moves along at a goodly pace with the appropriate emotional responses reflected by all actors. The characterization of Creon is a slightly weaker than the others but really doesn't detract from the overall production.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Consistent with Aristotle's critique of tragedy, Sophocles' writing most definitely evokes pity and fear. It also encourages a number of deep questions, philosophical and theological.

Any additional comments?

While the performance was superb, I struggled with the translation. I had a difficult time finding out who the translator was for this version. Audible could not help me so I purchased it hoping it was Storr, Plumetre, or Young. I couldn't match this with ANY of my versions so contacted Naxos books. The translator is Duncan Steen and, given what I now know, I would never have purchased this book because the translation is not classical and is modernized in what I consider to be a non-scholarly manner. Too many idioms and expressions that modern audiences relate to but Sophocles probably never intended. This made the production too crude for me, despite the obvious skill of the performers. Hopefully someone will produce Fagles' translation with an equally talented cast and we'll have a truly great work!!

This is one of my favorite audiobooks. I was enthralled for the duration. The translation was modern but appropriate and expressive, and the performances were very well done. Listening to the play as performed by these fine actors brought a life to it that simply reading it never did. I will agree with one reviewer who said "some voices could be better amplified"; the voice of Tiresias was too quiet so I had to turn it up until Oedipus was practically yelling. That's my only negative; other than that small complaint, this was perfect. Please make more!

I was required to read Oedipus Rex for my humanities class but found it difficult to understand as I was reading it. I found this particular audiobook (with Michael Sheen) very helpful. Although the words spoken were not verbatim to the book I have, the music was helpful for me to follow along in the book. The actors articulated very well using modern-day English. Overall, I give it 5 stars!

A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus accidentally fulfilled his prophecy received from the gods. At an early age he learned, that he would kill his father and marry his mother, and thereby bring disaster on his city and his family. He decided to alter his life to cheat his way out of his fate. Despite his efforts, in fact, as a result of his efforts, he met his Democlean destiny.

This play was written in or about 429 B.C. This story was conceived, created, played and revered by audiences in the gap between the bronze and iron ages. (Wish our society today was as sophisticated as the Greeks were or should have been given the thinking this play generates.)

Imagine this the Greeks of 429 B.C. had a settled concept of making our living selves distinct from the non-human animals. No longer were we equivalent to any common animal. We had developed an understanding of humanity - the quality of compassion or consideration for others. The play reminds us though, that our assimilation into mortality; comes with a higher degree of horrifics. With increased knowledge we have increased agony. Because we can see deeper we can bleed more vociferously. And just how calamitously will one scream when one learns he is seeding through yourr own mother?

The given horror and how it torments Oedipus is the makeup of the great play. The audio’s acoustics are bad, the acting is not always great. The story, as difficult as one might believe, is a travel one should not miss out on in his/her life – the voyage through the play not its contents.